The Eyes Of The Hunter
by Realise-FrenchFries
Summary: How far will Amy go to keep her promise? In a recent Werehog attack, Sonic was turned into a monster against his will. He'd rather die than be one of them, and now Amy must abandon everything and keep the promise Sonic begged her to make. But with everything at stake, how can she kill the one she loves?
1. Chapter 1

**_This was originally a Sonic series I abandoned due to a couple of reasons. But now I have rewritten the first chapter, and I aim to complete the series. This is based in an alternative universe of Sonic Unleashed where the Werehogs are deadly and is more than one. Chip and Dark Gaia don't exist in this universe. Please enjoy. _**

**_~x~ _**

Once when I was young, I read an old book I found in the library. Each page had a different poem. One of the lines were, "_Everyone is born happy, full of heart. But what happens when it's torn apart?"_ It hadn't meant much to me at the time, after all there was a guy I really liked, I was distracted, so how could I be expected to pay attention to literature? Now, three years later, I understood the poem perfectly.

Lately my life really did seem like it was on the precipice of being a dream. There were days I thought I'd wake up and discover that the recent events in my life hadn't happened. Surely I must be a princess in an enchanted sleep. Any day now, this dream - no, nightmare - would end, and I'd get my prince and have a happily ever after.

But there was no happy ending to be found, at least not in the foreseeable future, and my prince? Well, that's a long story. My prince had been turned into a beast, a Werehog, to be specific. In my world Werehogs are a race of hedgehogs that are literally the walking dead, and if you're not already having nightmares about them, you should be. They're strong. Powerful. They have the strength of a raging brown bear and can kill you within a heartbeat. The reason why they're disgusting creatures is because they eat people. The Werehogs have taken over the human world, they hide down alleyways and wander the streets. Their behaviour is the exact same as a grey wolf.

If you ever encounter a Werehog there are two ways to die. One: you could be eaten, or two, you could become like them - forcibly or by choice - through evil means. Sonic, the guy I loved, had been made a Werehog against his will. He'd been turned during a battle, a rescue mission I was a part of. Tails, a friend of ours, had been kidnapped. He was quickly retrieved and pulled to safety outside the caves, which left Sonic and I fighting them until we quickly became outnumbered.

I remember him gripping my hand as we ran for the exit, but as we got closer, our one way ticket to freedom, my hand suddenly slipped from his. I spun round to see if Sonic was still there. Instead I watched him get dragged back through the cave, like a mouse being pulled by its tail. Screaming. I tried to go back, but someone grabbed me and yanked me in the opposite direction. I bellowed and cursed, wanting to break through their embrace and run inside the cave to rescue Sonic, but I couldn't. His time was up.

After his conversion everyone considered Sonic being dead, and up to a certain extent, he was. But not to me, because I witnessed the Werehogs pull him away, back into hell. For those who become Werehogs they lost all their goodness, their old personalities vanished and were replaced with the thoughts of blood lust and hunger. I hadn't been able to forget Sonic, besides, he was the one I adored dearly, the one I fell in love with, the only hedgehog who had the power to make me break the rules and become stronger. He was my rock, my foundation; without him, life was meaningless.

My heart refused to let him go, even if he was technically a monster, he was still out there somewhere. I also hadn't forgotten a conversation he and I had once had. We both agreed that we'd rather be dead – truly dead – then walk the world as a Werehog.

So I made a decision...

I was going to honor his wishes and kill him

Free his soul from that dark, unnatural state. I knew it was what the Sonic I had loved would have wanted. Killing Werehogs isn't easy though. They're insanely fast. They have no mercy. I'd killed a number of them already - pretty crazy for someone who was eighteen. And I knew taking on Sonic would be my greatest challenge, both physically and mentally. In fact, the emotional side had kicked in as soon as I made my decision. Going after Sonic meant doing a few life-altering things. I stayed with Tails in his apartment, and each day that was wasted, meant one more day was going by in which Sonic was still out there, living in a state he'd never wanted. I loved him too much to allow that, so I left Tails and mingled amongst the humans, abandoning one of my good friends to fight for himself.

On top of that, I discovered something strangely wrong with me too; I have dark energy running through my veins. An ancient power that's beyond anyone's control. I call them The Shadows.

Doctor Eggman kidnapped me before the Werehogs appeared. As an experiment he injected black blood into my bloodstream, and from that moment in my life, The Shadows overtook my entire body, transforming my blood from red to black, I felt it swallow me like a sucking whirlpool. With The Shadows I could do extraordinary things, such as feel emotions from other people and hear their thoughts; look through the eyes of a complete stranger and see the world from a different perspective; manipulate someone and heal myself. There was so much I could do, and at times I felt unstoppable.

After a few weeks on my own I finally made it to Central City. I was still looking, still floundering - but determined to find him, even though I dreaded it at the same time because if I really did pull this insane plan off, if I actually managed to kill the guy I love, it would mean Sonic would truly be gone from the world, and I wasn't sure I could go on in a world like that.

None of it seems real. Who knows? Maybe it isn't. Maybe it's actually happening to someone else. Maybe it's something I imagined. Maybe I'm going to wake up and find everything fixed with Sonic. We'll be together, he'll smile and hold me and tell me everything's going to be okay. Maybe all of this really has been a dream.

But I don't think so.

**XXX**

I was being followed.

It was kind of ironic, considering the way I'd been following others for the last few weeks. At least it wasn't a Werehog. I was certain of that. As an effect of my Shadow ability I could sense those creatures through uneasy sensations and nausea, that are caused by the Shadows stirring in my stomach. On the positive side, I appreciated my body's early warning system, it helped me through ambushes or sudden attacks, but right now the nausea became too much to bare, which meant whatever it was must be very close.

I had to guess my follower was a hedgehog, or some sort of animal from my world. Admittedly, this person was moving a little less stealthily then I would have expected. It's footsteps were clearly audible against the pavement of the dark side streets I was travelling on. I caught a brief glimpse of a shadowy figure. Still, considering my rash actions tonight, a hedgehog was the most likely culprit.

It all started earlier at Eclipse. That was a nightclub located down one of the streets I passed. Apparently it was well known amongst wealthy people who traveled abroad, and I can see why. No matter what time of day it was, people at Eclipse nightclub dressed like they were going to an imperial ball; to be honest, the whole place actually looked like something from the old, Victorian days. With ivory walls covered in gold scroll work and moulding, it reminded me of a palace. I remember I had toured it upon first arriving in Central City.

There were embellished chandeliers filled with real candles glittering in the air, lighting up the gold décor so that even in dim lighting, the whole establishment sparkled. There was a large dining room filled with velvet-draped tables and booths, as well as a lounge and bar area where people could mingle. Late in the evening, a band would set up in there, and couples could hit the dance floor.

I was surprised there were people in the nightclub, I expected it to be empty, though I guess some people weren't worried about the Werehogs at all. I hadn't bothered with the Eclipse nightclub when I arrived in the city a couple of weeks ago. I'd been arrogant enough to think I could find humans right away who could direct me to Station Square. Heading to the town where Sonic first met Chris Thorndyke had been my best chance of getting closer to him. Only, I didn't know where it was any more, which was why I was trying to find people to help me. So I began staking out the Eclipse nightclub, which wasn't easy. It was hard for an eighteen-year-old girl to blend into one of the city's most elite places. I'd soon found expensive clothes and large enough tips went a long way towards helping me get by. The bartender had come to know me, and if they thought my presence was strange, they didn't say so and were happy to give me the corner table I always asked for.

Crowds grew larger as the night progressed and in peering through the packed tables and people lingering at the bar, I spotted a couple walking in at 10:15 pm. I sat across the room at my table, pretending to read my book and occasionally sipping my wine. For the record, I thought wine was disgusting, but it seemed to be everywhere in Central City, particularly in the nice places. Sometimes I never finished my food at the Eclipse and would ravenously hit McDonald's afterwards, or I wouldn't eat in the club at all, because the food was costly. I only had enough money to catch a bus, and I didn't want to waste said money on expensive food, besides, McDonald's was cheap and cheerful, and more delicious than this place.

It became a test of my skill: studying humans when they weren't looking. I watched the woman leave her table to walk up to the bar. Her partner watched her go, but seemed confident about her safety and was more fixated on his food. That was when I finally made my decision, strolling casually from my table and approaching the bar, like I too was going to get a drink. I stood by as the woman waited for the bartender and studied her in my periphery. She was blond and wore a long dress covered in red and silver sequins. I couldn't decide if it made my plain black dress appear tasteful or boring. The bartender was busy helping other people, and I knew it was now or never. I leaned towards her.

"Excuse me?"

She jumped in stun and looked over at me. She was older than I expected, her age cleverly concealed by makeup. Her blue eyes assessed me quickly and I found it hard to read her expression. Though despite her carefulness I continued. "I'm looking for a place called Station Square, do you know where that is?"

"Don't," she said bluntly. "Let it go." She turned away, her gaze back on the bartender as he made someone a blue cocktail adorned with berries.

"Please," I touched her arm. "I have to find it. There's a guy..." I choked on the word. So much for my cool attitude. Just thinking about Sonic made my heart stick in my throat. How could I explain it to this woman? That I was following a long-shot clue, seeking out the guy I loved most in the world, a guy who had been turned into a Werehog and whom I now needed to kill? I couldn't perfectly picture the warmth of his broken eyes and the way his hands used to touch me. How could I ever kill him?

_Focus, Amy. Focus. _

The human woman looked back at me. "He's not worth it," she said, mistaking my meaning. No doubt she thought I was a lovesick girl chasing some boyfriend - which, I supposed, I kind of was. "You're too young...you shouldn't be doing this." Her face might have been impassive, but there was a tint of sadness in her voice. "Go do something else with your life that's worthwhile. Stay away from that place."

"You know where it is!" I exclaimed, too worked up to explain my fake reason for going there. "Please - you have to tell me. I need to get there!"

"Is there a problem?"

Both she and I turned to gaze upon the face of an angry boyfriend. Damn. The woman might not be his top priority, but he would have noticed someone harassing her. The woman's partner was older than me, and I gave him a sweet smile. I might not be showing a lot of naked skin, but I knew my dress did great things for my legs. Surely a guy wasn't immuned to that? Well, apparently he was. His hard expression showed that my charms weren't working. Still, I thought I'd try my luck on him.

"Do you know where I can find a place called Station Square?"

He blinked. "Why do you want to go there?"

"John, you can't tell her!" The woman nudged her his side, indicating that he should have kept his mouth shut, but now I was intrigued, even though it was a small piece of information, I had gotten somewhere. My face lit up with eagerness, and I knew my eyes were glittering with anticipation.

"Can you give me directions to Station Square? Please, I have to get there, it's important." The couple glanced at one another anxiously, obviously hesitant on sharing such information with a stranger. It was plainly obvious they were hiding something and I think the woman detested her boyfriend for slipping up. But no matter how much they tried to sugar coat it, I was persistent.

"Listen, I don't know what your fascination is with that place, but you must never go there," the man said in all seriousness.

Wonderful. Now both of them were being difficult. "Why not?" I asked forcefully. "You can at least tell me the reason."

Again, the couple shared a side glance, "It's populated by those things. Nobody goes there because people who have been there don't come back." He said evenly.

I kept my smile on. "Okay. If you can't give me specific directions, can you point me in the right direction instead?"

"No," replied the boyfriend. In that one word, I heard the challenge and the command. _Back off._ He looked like the type who wouldn't hesitate to take on anyone he thought was a threat to his girlfriend. I considered pushing my case further but quickly decided to follow the warning and indeed back off. I gave an unconcerned shrug. "Whatever," and with no other words I walked calmly back to my table, like the rejection had no effect on me. All the while I held my breath, half-expecting the man to drag me out of the club. Thankfully that didn't happen. Yet as I gathered my coat and set some cash on the table, I saw him watching me, wary and calculating.

I left the nightclub with that same nonchalant air, heading out toward the busy street. It was Saturday night and there were lots of other clubs and restaurants nearby. Party goers filled the streets, some dressed as richly as the Eclipse's patrons, and others were my age dressed in casual wear. Lines spilled out of the clubs, and dance music was so heavy with bass it shook the ground if you got close. As I walked through the crowds, surrounded by conversation, I resisted the urge to look behind me. I didn't want to raise any further suspicion from the policemen that were patrolling the streets.

Yet when I turned down a quiet alleyway that was a shortcut back to my hotel, I could hear the soft sounds of footsteps. I apparently had risen enough alarm to cause someone to follow me. After walking this neighbourhood for so long, I knew its twists and turns well, so I picked up my pace and darted around a few corners, one of which led to a good ambush spot where I ducked into a doorway. I quietly stepped out of my high-heeled shoes. They were black with pretty leather straps but not ideal in a fight, unless I planned on gouging someone in the eye with a heel. Actually, not a bad idea, but I wasn't that desperate.

A few moments later, I heard the footsteps and saw my pursuer's long shadow appear on the ground, cast in the flickering light of a street lamp on the road. My stalker came to a stop, no doubt searching for me. _Really,_ I thought, this person was careless. From what I've learnt about stalking, they should have moved with more stealth and not revealed themselves so easily. Maybe I was better at it than most people, because back in the day I used to hunt for Sonic whenever he ran away.

My pursuer took a few more steps, and that's when I made my move. I leapt out, fists ready. "Okay," I exclaimed. "I only wanted to ask a few questions, so back off or else -"

I froze. It wasn't the boyfriend from the club.

It was Rouge.

I recognized her instantly from the way she stood. She was no older than me, about my height, wearing a black dress that clung to her hips, outlining her curvy waistline. The top half of her dress was cut across her chest where her entire collar bone was exposed, her outfit was looked so classy and expensive it put my dress to shame. If she was at the same nightclub as me I honestly didn't notice her presence, besides, she was a bat. Bats were known to hide themselves well.

Her face was partly covered in shadow, but even in poor lighting, I could make out her annoyed expression. That wasn't quite what I'd expected. "I knew it was you, leaving a string of Werehog bodies around the city."

"I..." No other words formed on my lips. I had no idea how to respond. Rouge following me? It was unheard of, since she and I had a rocky relationship. And also the fact that she was talking casually about Werehogs, this astonished me more than actually running into one. She didn't even seem to care about my stupefied state.

"Look, Amy, do you know what a pain in the ass it is for me to deal with? This crisis is bad enough without you messing with it. The police found the body you left in the park, you know. You _cannot _do that, okay?" It was true, I had left a body in the park, but seriously, what was I supposed to do with it? Drag the Werehog back to my hotel and tell the assistant my friend had too much to drink?

"What are you doing here?" I asked at last.

"I work for the military and I'm assigned to this area. Seriously, you show know that by now."

I was slowly getting angry. I didn't like being chastised. And I certainly didn't like being chastised by _her._ There's a reason why we both never saw eye to eye, and this was it, she made it sound like me killing Werehogs was a bad thing.

"Look, I don't know what you're problem is, or how you know what I was doing, but I'm not going to stand here and-"

Nausea rolled over me and I tensed, my hands immediately balled into fists, summoning the Shadows to the surface of my skin. Rouge still wore that annoyed look, but it was mingled with confusion at the abrupt change in my posture. She was observant, I'd give her that.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"You're going to have another body to clean up," I said, just as the Werehog attacked us.


	2. Chapter 2

Going for her instead of me was bad mistake on the Werehog's part. He should have neutralized me first seeming that I'm the threat. Although, on the other hand, Rouge can take care of herself, but our positioning had put her in way, which meant she didn't have time to react. However, he had to dispatch her first before he could get to me. This Werehog was male, I could tell by the markings imprinted on his fur. The beast grabbed Rouge's shoulders, jerking her back. He was fast but I was already one step ahead.

A swift kick knocked him into a wall and freed Rouge from his grasp. It grunted on impact and slumped to the ground, stunned and surprised. It wasn't easy to get the drop on a Werehog, and I felt proud of myself for doing that. Abandoning Rouge, he focused his attention on me, red eyes angry and lips curled back to show his fangs. He sprang up from his fall with inhuman speed and lunged.

I dodged him and attempted a punch that he dodged in return. His next attack caught me on the arm, and I stumbled, just barely keeping my balance. My Shadows were still bubbling on my skin, forming pressure in my right hand, but I needed an opening to hit its chest. A smart Werehog would have angled himself in a way that ruined the line of sight to his heart. If I can stay alive long enough, I'd eventually get an opening.

Just then, Rouge appeared and kicked him on the back of the head. The blow was strong enough to startle him. And there was my opening. I sprinted hard, throwing my full weight at him. My Shadows pierced his heart as we slammed against the wall. It was as simple as that. The life - or undead life - faded from his eyes. The Werehog stopped moving completely. I jerked away once I was certain he was dead and watched as his body crumpled to the ground.

Just like with every Werehog kill, I had a momentary surreal feeling. What if this had been Sonic? I tried to imagine Sonic's face on this Werehog, tried to imagine him lying before my feet. My heart twisted in my ribs. For a split second, the image was there. Then - gone. This was just some random Werehog.

I promptly shook the disorientation off and reminded myself that I had important things to worry about. I had to check on Rouge. Even with her, my protective nature couldn't help but kick in. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, looking unfazed but otherwise unharmed. "Nice work," she said. She sounded as though she was forcing herself to sound confident. "I've never...I've never actually seen one of them get killed."

I couldn't imagine how she would have, but then, I didn't get how she knew about any of this stuff in the first place. I moved my head to the side, gesturing towards the busy high street. "Come on, let's get out to where there's more people." Werehog's lurking near the Eclipse nightclub wasn't that uncommon. What better place to stalk humans than at one of their hangouts? The suggestion for departure snapped Rouge out of her thinking. "What?" she exclaimed. "You're just going to leave him too?"

I threw up my hands. "What do you expect me to do? Stuff him in the bin? I guess I can move him behind those trash cans and leave him to rot. That's what I usually do."

Rouge shook her head in disapproval, "right. And what if someone shows up to take out the trash?"

"Well that's not my problem then, is it?"

The bat sighed before walking over to the body. She made a face as she looked down at the Werehog before reaching into her large leather purse. From it, she produced a small capsule. With a deft motion, she tipped the object and sprinkled some sort of dust over the body, then she quickly stepped back.

Where the drops had hit the corpse, yellow smoke began to curl away. The smoke slowly moved outward, spreading horizontally rather than vertically until it cocooned the Werehog entirely. Then it contracted so much to the point where there was nothing but a fist-size ball. In a few seconds, the smoke drifted off entirely, leaving a pile of ash behind.

"You're welcome," said Rouge flatly, still giving me a disapproving look.

"What the hell was that?" I exclaimed.

"My job. Can you please call me the next time this happens?" She started to turn away.

"Wait! I can't call you - I mean, I've got no way of contacting you."

She glanced back at me and brushed back one of her extremely long eyelashes. "I'm not going just yet. Besides, we need to talk."

As we returned to the busy streets and walked toward a cafe she liked, it occurred to me that if she knew about the Werehogs, there might be a chance she also knew where Station Square was. The place where Sonic might be.

Sonic. There he was again, popping up out of nowhere. I had no clue if he really would be lurking at Station Square, but I had nothing else to go on at this point. Again, that weird feeling came over me. My mind blurred Sonic's face with that of the Werehog I'd just killed: overgrown fur, red ringed eyes...

_iNo,/i _I sternly told myself. Don't focus on that. The restaurant was bright and dazzling, though not as fashionable as Eclipse. We slid into some black leather chairs, and I was delighted to see the menu had much tastier food. I nearly drooled when I saw fried chicken. I was starving after not eating at the club, and the thought of deep-fried meat was luxurious after weeks of eating cabbage dishes and so-called McDonald's.

A waitress arrived, and we ordered. After that Rouge remained silent, simply playing with her napkin and avoiding eye contact. She was full of surprises. Considering her harsh attitude, I expected her to question me right away, but what I really wanted to know was how she disposed of that Werehog's body. Whatever she used, I surely needed some of the same stuff - but doubt that she'd give it to me. Her outrage earlier wasn't fake, and she'd been adamant about me following her to this place.

"So, are you ready to tell me why you're really here and what's going on?"

Rouge looked up. Now that we were in brighter light, I could see her topaz eyes. I also noticed that she had an interesting tattoo on her right breast. The ink looked gold, the type of color that blended into the skin. I'd never seen it before. It was an elaborate design of flowers and leaves and was only really visible when she moved her chest in a certain way so that the gold caught the light.

"I'm not apart of the military, that was lie. I'm apart of a top secret organization that protects humanity from the Werehogs. My job is cleaning up the bodies."

I raised an eyebrow. "An organization that deals with Werehogs? How come we've never heard of you before?"

"Hences why its 'top secret' dumbass. When the war between the two races began, the Government couldn't cope with the amount of people dying, and soon the number of Werehogs multiplied. The military alone wasn't enough to save everyone, so the Government formed a group of people who had abilities. Funny enough, they've called us the Freedom Fighters."

I blinked, puzzled. "So basically, they've recreated the Freedom Fighters from our world?" The Freedom Fighters were originally a group dedicated to oppose and overthrow Dr. Eggman, and they protected the citizens of Mobius from all other types of threats. Over time, the stronger they grew, the Freedom Fighters started sharing their hospitality to other places, and they soon became well known. I watched Rouge rest her right elbow on the armrest of her chair, then propped her chin up with her hand, eyes staring down at the table again. She swallowed, like she was bracing herself for something, and then a rush of words came out, "that's pretty much how it is, yeah. The only difference with us is that we can't display ourselves to the public, because the organization will surely drown just like the military did when people found out about the Werehogs. Our aim is to help people as discreetly as possible so that the Werehogs don't suspect a thing, they're easier to kill if you catch them off guard."

I nodded slowly, then my attention was drawn to her tattooed breast. "What's that?"

She gently stroked it with her fingertips and didn't bother hiding the sarcasm from her voice when she spoke. "My prize. It's actually gold and..." she grimaced and dropped her hand, "Werehog blood, combined with water and soil."

"What?" My jaw dropped as my voice came out louder than expected, some people in the restaurant turned to look at me. Rouge continued speaking, her tone much lower and very bitter.

"I'm not thrilled about it either, but it's our "symbol" for helping the human race. The water moisturizes the skin so that the tattoo can stick, the soil is an overcoat. And as for the Werehog blood, that disguises our smell with the smell of a Werehog, so that if we ever encounter one they won't attack us, because we smell like them. It's like a perfume. I get sick just thinking about how the tattoos are made."

My head was whizzing. I had never, never considered anything like this. A tattoo made of blood? _iWerehog's blood?!/i _It was unheard of, let alone unthinkable. What was the Government even thinking when they scolded Rouge's skin with that? Did that mean every Freedom Fighter had a golden tattoo? Pushing aside my wild thoughts, I presumed the tattoo was a way of recognizing each other, kind of like picking out a wolf in sheep's clothing, they could easily be spotted.

This probably wasn't an idea I should have suggested, but my nature couldn't help it. "If the tattoo protects you from Werehogs why not give it to the humans?"

"Because it was designed to stick onto _iour/i_ skin. Since you and I are a different species from humans, the Werehog's are just like us, which means their blood doesn't affect our skin. If you printed this tattoo on a human, the Werehog blood would incinerate their skin instantly."

"Wait a minute," I moved to the edge of my chair as the hard realization hit me. A tattoo - a charm, that didn't us but affected the humans...this only left me with one conclusion to who the Freedom Fighters really were. "What you're trying to say is that there are no humans in the Freedom Fighters?"

Rouge dropped her head again, staring at the wooden table for the third time tonight. "Yes. The tattoos were tested on human subjects and all the results were the same; they burnt to death the long they had the tattoo. Then they tested it on me, and nothing happened."

"So who is apart of the Freedom Fighters?"

Rouge didn't respond.

"Just tell me," I snapped.

Her facial expression remained blank. "I can't. If I could, I would. But I really can't, besides, I've told you too much already."

The food arrived just then, and the fried chicken was almost enough to distract me from the outrage of being kept in the dark. Mostly all it did was delay me from responding immediately to her claims, and I bit into the golden crust and nearly melted then and there. Rouge had ordered a cheeseburger and chips and nibbled her food delicately.

After taking down an entire chicken leg, I was finally able to resume the conversation. "Knowing you, Rouge, that wasn't the topic you wanted to talk about."

"Indeed," she said, playing with her chips but not actually eating them. "Unfortunately you know me too well."

"So what is it?" I pressed on, wishing she'd stop beating about the bush.

She finished toying with a fry and dropped it back on her plate. "I know what you're doing. What you've set out to do, why your killing random Werehogs in the city...it's because your trying to find him, aren't you?"

I chewed on a chicken wing to restrain myself from speaking out of term. To be honest, I shouldn't be surprised by her. Especially to the fact that she figured out what I was trying to do. I knew it wasn't possible to always move through the world invisibly, and yes, I could admit, I was partly being selfish during my killing spree through Central City. I felt so desperate to find Sonic because I wanted this mission of mine to be over and done with, I wanted to end this nightmare quicker. And I was blinded by the idea that if I killed every Werehog I saw, at some point I'll rid them all until he was the only one left...but I know I shouldn't have done that. I've just been wasting time.

"That's none of your business," I muffled with my mouth full of chicken. Though despite my not-so-fierce warning, Rouge continued her say without taking a pause to absorb my words.

"It's actually my job to stop whatever you're going to do when you find Sonic. But, considering that I've told you too much information about the organization, I'll make a deal with you."

I froze mid-chew, remembering my earlier thoughts when I'd first come along with Rouge. I forced myself to swallow and then took a long drink of water. "You know how to get to Station Square don't you?"

She didn't answer right away, but her eyes betrayed her. "Maybe."

"You do!" I exclaimed. "You have to tell me where it is."

"I'll tell you...but only on one condition."

I blinked, slightly cautious but patiently waiting for the bat to elaborate on her one condition. Holy crap. This was actually happening, after all these weeks of searching. Rouge was going to tell me where Station Square was, and I could go and try to close this horrible chapter in my life.

Rouge snatched a chip from her plate and slipped it between her teeth. "If I tell you where Station Square is, I'm coming with you."


End file.
